Business Wh-clefts It-clefts BE - Exercise Worksheet

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Wh-clefts & It-clefts

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

In a 2023 survey of 251 business leaders, what the data reveals is not a vocabulary deficit but a structural one. It is the architecture of the sentence that carries the argument.

Grammar Reference · Wh-clefts & It-clefts

Wh-cleft (focus on

What the data shows is a structural problem. — highlights outcome or action

It-cleft (isolate one

It is the timeline, not the budget, that needs attention. — singles out for contrast

Wh-cleft: hedged

What we would suggest is a phased rollout. — softer than a direct imperative

Common error

What matters ~~are~~ the details. ✗ → What matters is the details. ✓ — wh-cleft takes singular is

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Wh-clefts & It-clefts

1. the report fails to do is foreground the key risk in the opening paragraph.

2.It is the budget forecast, not the staffing plan, requires immediate attention.

3.What the consultant recommend is a six-month pilot before full deployment.

4.It the absence of sign-posting language that reduced the document's cohesion.

5.What the 2022 study was a 34 percent increase in same-day responses.

6.It is the nominalisation of key terms signals a formal written register.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.The data reveals a structural problem.

2.The timeline worries the client most.

3.Clear cohesion makes a report persuasive.

4.The framing of the risk, not the risk itself, alarmed the board.

5.We propose a complete restructuring of the proposal.

6.The opening sentence determines whether the reader continues.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

Wh-clefts & It-clefts01EnglishPlans.com